Wednesday, December 31, 2008

It's a Hornets-Wizards-Russian Family Reunion!

Who would've thought that tonight's Hornets' game against the lowly Washington Wizards would have provided so many storylines? First off, there's the obvious storyline of Antonio Daniels and Mike James playing against their old teams for the first time since their trade 20 days ago. Though James (16 points, 7 assists) out-preformed Daniels (5 points, 2 assists), it was the Hornets that came out on top 9785.

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But James wasn't the only ex-Hornets guard in the building tonight. Who else noticed Jannero Pargo enjoying the game on the baseline next to Chris Paul's brother, C.J. I got a chance to catch up with Pargo after the game and he was as cool as ever (though not, "Ceiling Fan Repairman" cool). In between answering passing fans' questions about whether he would be back, Pargo said that he's enjoying himself in Russiaand is even picking up the language. Apparently, his Russian team Dynamo Moscow is on break, though I still thought it strange that Pargo was in the town where people so desperately miss him. Wasn't his Russian team worried about him coming back?

Pargo, though, had it easy, he got to sit on the sideline. For James and Daniels, it was a more emotional game because they were playing against guys they are still in regular contact with. For James at the end, emotions ran very high as hie picked up a technical foul (with Byron Scott laughing at James' exchange with the referee) and then fouled out with 2:29 remaining.

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"It just got a little emotional," Mike James said of the technical. "Things just happen, words were said and it just went from there."

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James, who had asked to be traded away, said stood by his assertion that he thinks he's still has some good years of productivity left in him. However, James asserted that just because he felt like he deserved more playing time and could get it on another team, it didn't mean that he liked being traded.

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"I wasn't happy to leave here," he said. "This was one of the best teams I've ever played for. It was like a family for me."

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Antonio Daniels, needless to say, was in a much better mood that James post-game. Daniels said "it's always fun to play against your old team, especially so soon after a trade." Daniels added that he understands the business aspect of the game and was actually pumped for the game because he knew the Wizards players and their tendancies so well.

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"You know their plays and their habits," Daniels said. "The coaches were leaning on me a bit about the plays calls."

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Again, who knew a game against the Wizards would provide so much material? And I haven't even covered the half of it. Here it is in conveniant bullet form:

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The win marked the Hornets' 800th victory in franchis history.

It was the sixth sellout of the season with an attendance of 18,021

Chris Paul (18 points, 16 assists, 10 rebounds) recorded his league-best third triple-double of the season and sevenths of his career.

Rasual Butler had a season-high five three-pointers and a season-high 21 points.

Tyson Chandler (11 points, 11 rebounds) had his sevenths double-double of the season.

This is the first time Chris Paul has beaten the Wizards. He's now beaten every team in the league.

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Oh, and Byron Scott still wasn't 100% happy with the way his team played, saying that they need to play better if they want to be successful in their upcoming four-game road trip (against Portland, Denver, the Lakers and Utah, all playoff-caliber teams).